I had what I think is the good fortune to start watching the SG-1 series in the season 5 re-runs. If I understand correctly, it was during season 5 that the writers etc started to think their little show would get canceled. At least so I recall. The end result though, was a show much more watchable and likable. Better, more realistic dialogue and the frequent poking fun at their own show or other shows in the genre. So, IMHO, SG-1 seasons 5-10 will hold up well. Seasons 1-4 not so well.
If you are still new to the StarGate SG-1 tv show, and only have a limited time to watch. Get familiar with the main characters etc., then, before it goes away from Hulu or whatever, be sure to watch the “Wormhole Xtreme” episode as well as “200”. And “Citizen Joe” is good too. Their take on “GroundHog Day” is cute too, but I do not recall the correct episode name.
I don’t know that they were really awful. Jeff Conaway, Marilu Henner, and Tony Danza were serviceable in the roles that they played (vain struggling actor, milf, and dumb jock); not great in comparison to the other leads, but also not terrible enough to bring the show down. The worst lead that they had was Randall Carver, who was axed after the first season, replaced by the inimitable Lloyd as Reverend Jim Ignatowski.
I’d also mention Vincent Schiavelli as a memorable guest star, playing a fellow countryman of Latka Gravas.
The show that springs to mind is The Prisoner (the original, of course). It is both hilariously dated (you know it’s the '60s!) and has survived very well, as in being entertaining.
The fact that it was recently re-made and that it is still far superior to its remake rubs it in.
My kids love it. I explained to my kids that most of the Germans were Jewish refugees and Robert Clary (Le Beau) had spent time in a concentration camp, but IRL the POW camps were run by the Luftwaffe and they (take your pick) were not operated to Auschwitz standards. Mayberry ran its jails more effectively. “Nova” has a couple episodes devoted to them.
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman is still, in a way, ahead of its time. It’s difficult to imagine some of its dialogue or scenarios being aired today. Too weird, too thought-provoking.
She moved to Tatooine and became head of a criminal drug smuggling organization. She appeared at a pod race in “The Phantom Menace” and was killed by Princess Leia Organa in “The Return of the Jedi”.
King of the Hill will hold up well, I think. It tackled realistic (-ish) situations about families and friends without getting schmaltzy, and it didn’t rely too much on pop culture references for its humor.
The X-Files holds up really well, for the same reasons as The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The monster-of-the-week episodes are especially watchable. Also, the production values and the look and feel of the show are very “cinematic” for a tv show, and that helps its replay value.
Firefly - could age well since the look of the show is a combination of futuristic and old western (space cowboys) so it’s not too “set” in time. However, since it was so short-lived it may not be aired or watched in syndication as much as most of the other shows listed in this thread.
I’m thinking that the reference was to the writing and voice acting, not to the drawings themselves. I read “television animation” as referring to “animated series original to tv.”
This is a good point, the humour is a bit repetitive, but that’s not so much an issue of how well it stands up, more of how good it was to begin with.
I find it interesting that people are suggesting Sanford and Son, seeing as it’s based on the even older British show ‘Steptoe and son’ which is still greatly beloved and generally thought to have survived very well (although much of it is in black and white). It makes me curious to look up the American version and see how they compare.
I think I will also be looking up the Dick Van Dyke Show as it seems to greatly beloved.
The Dick Van Dyke show does hold up very well, Robert and Laura Petrie were a young attractive couple, and even though they slept in separate beds (TV standards and all) you knew the sex had to be great. They seemed like a real couple, with real-life strengths and weaknesses (although Van Dyke did do exaggerated physical comedy at times.) Robert didn’t work at some nebulous “office”, he was a comedy writer, and you got to see his work life and his home life, often they intersected. The supporting cast was great too.
I think all of mine have been mentioned already, but here they are:
**The Twilight Zone
Outer Limits
The Dick van Dyke Show
Barney Miller
The Prisoner
Star Trek
MASH
Police Squad! (in color!)
Rockford Files **
I tried watching All in the Family several years ago, and it was painfulk to watch. It wasn’t just the controversy – it just wasn’t at all funny. And I remember it being Great when it first aired.
Dick Van Dyke Show benefited from a skilled cast, but it was also extremely well written, and worked hard to avoid the obvious cliches.
I’ve been rewatching the original episodes of WKRP in Cincinnati, and it’s as funny as it ever was. The humor is rarely topical - it’s more about personalities and general craziness. And since the show is almost entirely shot inside a nondescript office, it’s hard to date (other than the record players in the DJ booth and the lack of computers). And the classic rock on the show hasn’t even dated - there are plenty of stations around that play pretty much the same playlist you hear on that show (I’m watching episodes that still have the original soundtrack). Great stuff.
You know, I think Arrested Development will age well, despite it being littered with pop references. I just re-re-re watched the first four episodes when I caught them in IFC this weekend and I was laughing my ass off.
The humor comes from the characters and their absurd interactions and the references they do make aren’t thrown in just to throw them in but generally to use them to spin off to another joke. If, in the future, a few of the jokes make no sense, I’d equate it to any of those shows on BBC with references based upon what’s currently going on inside the UK that completely go over my head. If it’s otherwise humorous, I still enjoy watching it.
Let’s clarify that “has aged well” is an entirely different distinction than “is dated”.
And the OP is in search of shows that have aged well.
With that in mind, I’ve been watching All in the Family like crazy for the past few weeks, and I love it to death. Carroll O’Connor carries the show, of course; he can split my sides with nothing more than a perfectly-executed wince.
Toward the end of its run, though something happened to the magic. The strain is palpable, the gestures exaggerated, the characters out of sync.
And don’t get me started on Archie Bunker’s Place.
This made me laugh out loud! To each his own, I suppose. But Fred Gwynn’s Herman never fails to get a laugh out of me. And that’s a good thing for a sitcom, especially one based on such a strange premise. Watch Herman try out for the Dodgers! I always looked at it as the poor man’s Addam’s Family, except I never liked the Addam’s Family.
Yeah, it probably isn’t on many “favorite lists”, but if you have a chance, watch a few episodes, and see how you react to them.
Gold standard? ugh. Enjoy the show. By all means. But mentioning guest stars is about the most ludicrous measuring stick I’ve ever heard. If that’s your deal, check out the guest stars for Batman. That guest star cast kicked ass.
As far as the main cast goes, along with Danny Devito, I’ll give you Christopher Lloyd. Jeff Conoway SUCKED, and he always did. No wonder he has been in drug rehab with Dr. Drew. He was the worst part of the Grease cast, and the worst member of the Taxi crew.
Andy Kaufmann annoyed the shit out of me. If you liked him, fine… but I didn’t. But then again I never quite “got” his sense of humor, on TAXI or anything else I saw him in. He was a one trick pony on TAXI, and if you liked him, I’m guessing you enjoyed every moment of his screen time. If you didn’t, he was an annoying cast member. Latka was Taxi’s Mork from Ork.
Tony Danza, Marilu Henner, et al… a group of B level acting talent, at best.
Judd Hirsch wasn’t bad, but when I rewatch the show, he’s a sanctimonious ass who preaches too much. His character reminds me of Alan Alda’s on MAS*H toward the end.
Devito is the only character that consistently delivered on TAXI. And it’s almost worth re-watching just for him.
Devito has done great work since then. Everyone else, not so much. There’s a reason for that.
One that hasn’t held up well is “Marcus Welby, M.D.”. I tried watching an episode yesterday, and Welby was getting his panties in a wad because a 42 year old woman didn’t want to have a baby and wanted an abortion. He told her she should be happy about being pregnant and didn’t have any indications for a “therapeutic” abortion and he would not allow it. He even took it upon himself to go see the woman’s husband to tell him about the pregnancy, since she didn’t want him to know. I couldn’t watch the rest of the episode–agh!!
